Final chappie!

J: Wow, you really are in a rush to get things done, aren't you?

Yep! KyouTenKyouTenKyouTenKyouTen~

Tsurugi: Shut up!

Tenma: O-oi, calm down, Kyousuke.

Disclaimer! I don't own IE or any of its characters!

J: Enjoy!

Not Alone Ch.5

Tsurugi gritted his teeth and tried to stand up again. His left ankle was really painful.

"Tsurugi!" Shindou called Tsurugi over.

"Yes, Captain?" Tsurugi struggled to get up, but he fell down. He cursed loudly.

Shindou ran over and helped him up. "You'd better not participate in practice today, Tsurugi."

"No! I can still—"A sharp jarring pain shot up his leg. He winced and inhaled loudly.

"Listen to me, Tsurugi." Shindou's eyes were dark and he wore an expression of seriousness. "Your body can't take the training. Get some rest. You'll be hurting yourself even more if you persist like this."

Tsurugi sighed. "Fine."

He allowed Shindou to lead him to the locker room, his body leaning on Shindou's for support. Tsurugi sat down heavily. "Get back to practice, Captain."

"No, it's okay. I need to have a word with you." Shindou poked his head out of the locker room. "Carry on practicing without me!" he yelled.

Shindou turned his attention back to the navy-haired striker. "What's going on between you and Tenma?"

Tsurugi swallowed painfully. So Shindou had noticed. "I don't know," he said glumly.
"Tenma's been ignoring and avoiding me all day long."

Shindou sat down beside Tsurugi. "So Tenma's the one who's being difficult," Shindou muttered.

Tsurugi felt like screaming out loud. "Of course it's him!"

Shindou gave Tsurugi a wry smile. "Sorry."

"What?" Tsurugi shot Shindou an odd look. "Sorry for what?!"

"Sorry for doubting you," Shindou explained. "I and Kirino thought that you were the one who was ignoring the feelings of Tenma."

"Well, you guys were wrong." Tsurugi stretched out his long legs. "Wait, what? The feelings of Tenma?"

Shindou coughed. "You know he likes you. And you know about your own feelings. So what's stopping your confession?"

"I-"Tsurugi stopped, considering his words carefully. "In his situation…" He trailed off awkwardly. "I don't want him to think that I'm taking advantage of his feelings."

"Wow, I never knew that you were that caring to Tenma," said Shindou gently.

"Yeah, you guys have never known the real me," grumbled Tsurugi.

"But Tenma knows the real Tsurugi Kyousuke." Shindou said cheekily.

Tsurugi put both elbows onto his knees and sighed. "I know," he said, unwillingly admitting defeat.

"So. When are you going to confess?" Shindou asked.

"It's none of your business!" exclaimed Tsurugi, getting flustered.

"Well, I and Kirino are going to be helping you two," Shindou patted the younger boy lightly on the back. "So, it is our business."

Tsurugi smirked. "I appreciate your help, senpai, but what about you?"

Shindou looked confused. "Me?"

"You should confess to Kirino~" Tsurugi whispered, smirking.

It was Shindou's turn to get flustered, his cheeks lighting up, becoming two red spots. "Wha-what do you mean?" he asked, trying to play dumb.

"Don't tell me you don't know," Tsurugi stated, crossing his arms. "You and Kirino-san love each other!" He said, teasing the brunet midfielder.

Shindou could do nothing but open his mouth and gape at Tsurugi, looking like a fish.

Tsurugi took Shindou's silence as a positive response. Nodding to himself, he smirked knowingly. "If Tenma comes out of his shell and confesses to me, you have to confess to Kirino and ask him out in front of the whole soccer club!"

Shindou sprang up from the bench. "What? I am so not going to do that. Besides, how will I know if you guys finally get together?"

Tsurugi fished around in his pocket and pulled out his sleek red mobile phone. "Technology, captain. I've got your phone number."

Shindou stared. "How did you get my number?"

"From Facebook." Tsurugi replied.

Shindou groaned and face-palmed himself. 'Note to self: Do not post personal information on the internet in case of possible blackmail,' he thought.

"So, what do you say?" Tsurugi was still smirking.

Shindou found himself nodding. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'll call you. Then, you get ready to confess in front of the whole soccer club and prepare a little speech for Kirino." Tsurugi stuck the phone back into his pocket. "Of course, no cheating. You'll have to wait until we arrive."

"We?" Shindou questioned.

"Me and Tenma."

Shindou sighed. He knew that there was no way to get out of this. "Fine."

Tsurugi gave Shindou a really wide smile. "Ganbatte! Captain~" he added slyly.

Shindou glowered and helped Tsurugi up from the bench again. "Come on. I want you to observe practice from the bench outside."

Tsurugi obeyed, and let Shindou pull him out.

Meanwhile, Kirino and Tenma had gone back to practice. When Kirino saw Shindou, he walked over to his friend.

"What are the statistics, Shindou?" he asked in a low voice.

Shindou felt himself blushing at the close distance between him and his crush. "All going according to our plan."' That is, leaving out the part of me confessing to you in front of the soccer club…' thought Shindou darkly.

Kirino didn't notice the midfielder's red cheeks. "Good. Let's get back to practice."

Kirino ran off, leaving Shindou behind. Heaving a sigh, Shindou followed him, mentally planning his confession all the way.

Tenma wasn't concentrating. The talk with Kirino earlier hadn't helped sooth his nerves. The butterflies were growing in amount, filling his stomach with more unease.

Tenma shot a glance at Tsurugi, who was observing practice from the bench. Having injured his left foot in the fight yesterday, it seemed that Shindou had ordered him to take a rest today.

Tsurugi suddenly looked up, his eyes meeting contact with Tenma's. Tenma stared into those warm amber eyes, the constant fluttering of butterflies getting stronger.

Tenma gulped and looked away. He had to focus on practice now. No reason to get more nervous, right?

"Tenma!" Shinsuke passed him the ball.

Tenma caught the ball neatly in the air. "Got it!"

"Tenma! Shinsuke! Work on your basic techniques again." Endou's voice rang out.

Tenma sighed. It would be another long practice. Shaking his head slightly, he passed the ball back to Shinsuke, and they continued practicing.

All the way through practice, Tenma could feel Tsurugi's gaze on him. It was warm and comforting, filling him with strength.

Tsurugi yawned and sat back. When exactly was practice ending? He wanted to get up and move around.

At the end of practice, Shindou, Tenma and Tsurugi were growing restless. Once Endou-kantoku signaled the end of practice, Shindou was the first to rush into the bathroom. Tenma followed suit, mopping at his face with a fluffy white towel.

Before Kirino could step inside the bathroom, Tsurugi stopped him. "What do I do now, senpai?" he whispered.

Kirino looked confused for a moment. Then, realizing what Tsurugi meant, his face cleared and he smiled. "Wait in the locker room," he told Tsurugi.

Tsurugi nodded. "Thanks."

As Kirino turned away, he could swear Tsurugi had muttered a good luck to him. Kirino shook his head. Good luck for what? To heck with that good riddance.

Tenma showered quickly. He was really anxious to get alone with Tsurugi.

Shindou did the same thing, only he was feeling nervous, prone to start sweating buckets of sweat.

/Beep/ Kirino's phone vibrated. So did the other phones of the soccer club members.

Kirino moved to pick his phone up, traces of shampoo still visible in his hair. "What's this?" he asked, sounding astonished.

"What is it, Kirino-san?" asked Hikaru.

"Stay in the clubroom for some good entertainment after your baths. Tsurugi Kyousuke," read Ichino out loud.

Shindou blushed again. "Why would he send something like this?"

"Captain, why are you blushing?" Kariya smirked.

"It's nothing!" Shindou said, annoyed.

Thankfully, Tenma had already picked up his things and dashed out of the bathroom. He didn't hear any of the commotion in the bathroom.

Tenma set his bag down on one of the racks outside the locker room. He just stood there, pondering where Tsurugi would be.

"Maybe he's gone home already," muttered Tenma, feeling depressed. A few droplets of water hung on his wet hair, damp from the shower.

"Who's gone home?" A cool voice asked. It was coming from the locker room.

Tenma jumped. "W-who's there?"

Tenma heard an amused chuckle. "None other than the person you're looking for," the voice commented.

Tenma flushed. "Tsurugi!"

"Come in." Tsurugi said.

Tenma swore that he could hear Tsurugi laughing softly. He blushed even more and entered the locker room.

There he was, leaning against a locker door, looking cool and unbothered as hell. His head was bowed, pale hands crossed together.

Tenma's heart leapt. "Tsurugi," he whispered.

For a long, dragging moment, they just stared at each other. The tension and nervous energy in the room was so thick that it could be dug out with a spoon.

Tsurugi relaxed. He could do this, yeah? Just keep his head calm, and he could do it. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth. "Why were you looking for me?"

Tenma looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "I… Erm…"

Suddenly, Tsurugi was across the room in an instant. His hands were pressing into Tenma's shoulders, pressing the smaller boy into the wall. "Tenma. Why on earth are you avoiding me?" His amber eyes were gentle and tender.

Tenma's chest lifted and fell down rapidly. He knew that he wasn't going anywhere in this situation.

Looking straight into Tsurugi's eyes, he swallowed. "Because… Because I love you." he choked out.

Staring into Tenma's eyes, Tsurugi bent down and pressed his mouth to Tenma's. That action alone was enough to speak for them.

Tenma slowly sneaked his hands around Tsurugi's waist. A few tears slid down his cheeks.

Tsurugi tasted salt on Tenma's lips, and pulled away. Gently, he put a hand to Tenma's face and smeared the tears with his thumb. "Don't cry, Tenma."

More tears appeared, and Tenma buried his head in Tsurugi's chest.

"Why are you crying?" asked Tsurugi softly. He held Tenma tightly to his body.

"I thought—I thought that… After my parent's deaths, I would be…" Tenma's voice was muffled by the fabric of Tsurugi's shirt, but he could still hear Tenma's words. "I would be all alone."

Tsurugi hugged him even tighter. "Silly," he murmured. "You were never alone." Tsurugi grasped Tenma's chin, forcing the brunet to look up. Tsurugi kissed him again, this time with more passion and dominance.

The remaining tears ran down Tenma's cheeks, disappearing. Now, he was not alone. Tenma felt Tsurugi's hands wrap around his waist. Responding to his boyfriend's action, he clutched onto Tsurugi's neck.

"I love you, Kyousuke." Tenma whispered into Tsurugi's mouth.

Tenma could feel Tsurugi smile against his lips. "I love you too, Tenma."

Ah, how sweet!

J: Wait, what about Shindou and Kirino?

Well, I'll be writing their part and posting it as a seperate one-shot!

J: Oh, so I see...

So that's the end of Not Alone! Thank you all for the support~